Walk-over seat for vehicles with means for reversing the inclination of seat cushion



Sept. 29, 1964 D. E. HlGLEY 3,150,897

WALK-OVER SEAT FOR VEHICLES WITH MEANS FOR REVERSING THE INCLINATION OFSEAT CUSHION Filed Jan. 10, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR DAVID E.HIGLEY BY Q '*W ATTORNEYS Sept. 29, 1964 D. E. HIGLEY WALK-OVER SEAT FORvsaxcuss wrm nuns FOR REVERSING THE INCLINATION 0F SEAT CUSHION FiledJan. 10, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

DAVID E. HIGLEY FIG- 3 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,150,897WALK-GVER SEAT FQR VEHECLES WITH I'l/TEANS FGR REVERSING THE TNCLINATION0F SEAT CUSHlUN David E. l-ligley, Gardner, Mass, assignor to Heywood-Wakelield Company, Gardner, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts FiledJan. 1d, 1963, Ser. No. 250,511 3 Qlaims. (Q1. 297-403) This inventionrelates to vehicle chairs or seats, and more particularly pertains tovehicle chairs of the walkover type which permit the direction towardswhich the chair faces to be reversed.

Various arrangements have been suggested for reversing the position ofthe back rest on a vehicle chair, especially a railroad seat. There hasbeen a need for a reliable and smooth acting reversing mechanism ofuncomplicated design that would support and permit reversing of the backrest and at the same time adjust or reverse the angle of the seat to acomfortable sitting position. If the seat is not so adjustable itremains horizontal and is uncomfortable.

The improved walk-over chair design of this invention has the customarysupporting base, back rest, back rest reversing and supporting mechanismand seat. The seat is movably mounted on the base on wedges such thatwhen the seat is moved forward or backward the leading edge of the seatis slightly elevated and the rear edge is slightly depressed. Theforward and backward motion of the seat is achieved by a sliding-blocklinked to the back rest reversing mechanism to move in a directionopposite to the motion of the back rest. A sliding-block is mounted on asuitable horizontal rail at either end of the base. The sliding-blockshave upwardly extending pins that engage but do not support the seat.Since the slidingblocks do not support the seat, the sliding-blocks andsupporting rails can be of light construction. The blocks are free andtravel smoothly so that an undue force does not have to be exerted bythe back rest reversing mechanism to move the seat.

The drawings attached to and forming a part of this specification andthe following description made with reference thereto will serve to makethis invention clear.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved vehicle chair of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side View broken away to show some of the linkage members;

FIG. 3 is a partial front view of the aisle side of the chair; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view in perspective of the back rest reversingmechanism and the seat sliding-block shifting mechanism.

Identical parts in the drawings have the same numbers throughout.

Referring to PEG. 1, the chair in general comprises a base 1 supportedby a leg 2 at the inner edge and a leg 3 on the aisle side that isslightly inwardly spaced to allow foot room. The base supports endbrackets l and la. Bracket carries arm rest 5. The back rest is shown at6 and the seat at 7.

The mechanisms for the inner and aisle sides of the seat are identicaland the mechanism of the aisle side will by-and-large be the onedescribed. Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the seat is supported from theend brackets 4 and 4a by two longitudinal front and rear angle-ironframe members 1 and 1' attached by bolts to angle-iron lugs ill and lilwhich are spaced to the outside of frame members 1 and l and provideupper supporting surfaces to be described later. Scat supporting lugs 11and 11 are attached to frame members 1 and 1 adjacent the ends andprovide upper sliding surfaces.

Seat 7 has attached at either edge wedge-shape members or chocks 12 and12 that slidably rest upon and are sup ported by the sliding surfacesprovided by lugs 11 and 11.

The back rest is supported as follows: a bracket 20 is rigidly attachedto the back rest and contains two pivots 20 and 21' equally spaced oneither side of the center line. Two arms 22 and 22' of equal length arerotatably mounted thereon. The other ends of arms 22 and 22 arerotatably attached to pivots 23 and 23' mounted on end bracket 4 andequally spaced on either side of the longitudinal center line of thechair. Bracket 20 extends downwardly from pivots 21 and 21' andterminates in two slightly inclined stopping edges 24 and 24' thatengage the arresting surfaces of lugs 10 and 10' respectively. Thisstopping arrangement holds the back rest in the desired position oneither side and prevents either of arms 22 or 22 from being forcedagainst the lower pivot points of the other arm. Rubber pads or cushionsmay be placed on the upper surfaces of lugs 10 and 10' if desired. Itcan be seen that back rest 6 can be reversed by swinging it up and overthe other side with the arms 22 and 22 remaining in a parallelrelationship. Other similar reversing mechanisms can be used if desired.

Shifting of the position and inclination of seat 7 is accomplished asfollows: frame members 1 and 1 have attached thereto near theirextremities a lower transverse rail 30. Rail 30 supports a sliding block31 constructed of angle iron. In FIG. 4, the upwardly extending wall ofsliding block 31 is broken away to show a slot 32 in the bottom edgethereof. Sliding block 31" is mounted on rail 30 by means of two bolts33 and 33' rigidly aflixed to rail 30 and extending upwardly throughslot 32..

A crank arm 35 is rigidly mounted on the lower end of either arm 22 or22', as shown arm 22', at the pivot point and rotates with the arm. Anextended shaft 36 is used to attach crank arm 35. The other end of crankarm 35 carries a pin 35 that fits into a vertical slot 37 in theupwardly extending edge of sliding block 31. The arrangement is suchthat upon turning of the arm the block moves in the opposite directionfrom the upper part of the arm. It can be seen that rotation of crankarm 35 by movement of arm 22' will cause sliding block 31 to movehorizontally along rail 39 in a direction op posite to that of the backrest.

Attached to the ends of sliding block 31 are upwardly extending pins 38and 38. These engage the underside of seat '7, being restrained bysuitable ledges. or boreholes that permit vertical movement of seat 7relative to sliding block 31 but restrain the pins for horizontalmotion.

It will be apparent that when back rest 6 is shifted from one side tothe other the reversing and supporting linkage causes sliding block 31to move in the opposite direction carrying with it seat 7. The forwardedge of seat 7 rides up in the direction of motion on chocks 12 and 12'.Upon reversal of the back rest, the inclination of the seat is reversedto a comfortable seating position slightly downwardly inclined towardsthe back rest in its new position.

For stability and to improve the synchronous operation of the chair, itis preferred to attach two rotatable longitudinal tie rods 36 and 36' toarms 22 and 22 and to the corresponding arms at the other end of thechair at their lower pivots points. These tie rods can then be used tocarry the crank arms as shown. With this arrangement seat 7 can then besecured to the tie rods by means of a loose clip or bracket 39.

In summary, the walk-over chair of this invention comprises a basecarrying sliding-blocks at each end which are adapted for forward andbackward motion relative thereto. A seat is engaged by the slidingblocks and is adapted for vertical motion relative to the blocks but ismoved horizontally thereby. The back rest of the seat is reversiblerelative to the base in the customary manner and the reversing linkagetherefore carries a connecting link or crank arm which attaches to thesliding block to impart the forward and backward motion in a directionopposite to the motion of the top of the back rest. The seat carriescams which upon forward or backward motion slightly elevate the leadingedge of the seat and lower the back edge of the seat to a comfortablesitting position.

Having described this invention, what is sought to be protected byLetters Patent is succinctly set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a walk-over chair, the combination of (1) a base having endbrackets each of which has an inner horizontal supporting surface and aseat engaging ing at either end; (2) a back rest reversible relative tosaid base; (3) sliding blocks mounted on each inner horizontalsupporting surface of said end brackets and adapted to ride on and moveonly horizontally with respect to the horizontal supporting surfaces;(4) a seat above said sliding blocks and engaged thereby for horizontalmotion therewith but with relative vertical motion therebetween, saidseat having chocks that engage and ride up on the forward seat engaginglugs of said end brackets when said seat is moving there towards; (5)and at each end of said base a reversing and supporting linkage havingtwo parallel arms of equal length pivotably mounted at one end 011 saidend brackets above said inner horizontal supporting surface andpivotably attached at the other end therefore to the end of said backrest by a supporting bracket, and a down wardly extending crank armattached to the lower end of one of said two parallel arms and adaptedto rotate ther with, said crank arrn engaging said sliding block andcausing it to move horizontally upon reversal of said back rest in theopposite direction, whereby upon reversal of said back-rest theinclination of said seat is changed to a comfortable sitting positionslightly downwardly inclined towards said back rest.

2. The walk-over chair of claim 1 comprising in addition thereto twohorizontal connecting rods extending across the width of said base andmounted on said end brackets at the lower pivot points of said twoparallel arms on each side and inoveable therewith, and mounting meansunderneath said seat attaching said seat to said horizontal connectingrods.

3. The walk-over chair of claim 1 wherein said sliding blocks areconstructed of angle iron with one leg thereof riding on the horizontalsuriace and the other extending upwardly, said leg riding on thehorizontal surface being slotted to receive attaching bolts afiixed tothe horizontal surface, and said crank arm at each end engaging avertical slot in the upward extending leg of the sliding block at thatend by means of a pin afiixed to said crank arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS505,246 Hale Sept. 19, 1893 615,227 Pickels Nov. 29, 1898 814,455Kilburn Mar. 6, 1906 1,146,097 Anger May 18, 1915 1,196,908 Walker Sept.5, 1916 1,214,124 Bennett Jan. 30, 1917 1,488,659 Abel et a1 Apr. 1,1924 1,782,231 Cross et a1 Nov. 18, 1930 2,726,708 Eickhorn Dec. 13,1955 2,875,811 Fall Mar. 3, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 7,470 Great Britain1904 1,063,113 France Dec. 16, 1953

1. IN A WALK-OVER CHAIR, THE COMBINATION OF (1) A BASE HAVING ENDBRACKETS EACH OF WHICH HAS AN INNER HORIZONTAL SUPPORTING SURFACE AND ASEAT ENGAGING LUG AT EITHER END; (2) A BACK REST REVERSIBLE RELATIVE TOSAID BASE; (3) SLIDING BLOCKS MOUNTED ON EACH INNER HORIZONTALSUPPORTING SURFACE OF SAID END BRACKETS AND ADAPTED TO RIDE ON AND MOVEONLY HORIZONTALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE HORIZONTAL SUPPORTING SURFACES;(4) A SEAT ABOVE SAID SLIDING BLOCKS AND ENGAGED THEREBY FOR HORIZONTALMOTION THEREWITH BUT WITH RELATIVE VERTICAL MOTION THEREBETWEEN, SAIDSEAT HAVING CHOCKS THAT ENGAGE AND RIDE UP ON THE FORWARD SEAT ENGAGINGLUGS OF SAID END BRACKETS WHEN SAID SEAT IS MOVING THERE TOWARDS; (5)AND AT EACH END OF SAID BASE A REVERSING AND SUPPORTING LINKAGE HAVINGTWO PARALLEL ARMS OF EQUAL LENGTH PIVOTABLY MOUNTED AT ONE END ON SAIDEND BRACKETS ABOVE SAID INNER HORIZONTAL SUPPORTING SURFACE ANDPIVOTALLY ATTACHED AT THE OTHER END THEREFORE TO THE END OF SAID BACKREST BY A SUPPORTING BRACKET, AND A DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING CRANK ARMATTACHED TO THE LOWER END OF ONE OF SAID TWO PARALLEL ARMS AND ADAPTEDTO ROTATE THEREWITH, SAID CRANK ARM ENGAGING SAID SLIDING BLOCK ANDCAUSING IT TO MOVE HORIZONTALLY UPON REVERSAL OF SAID BACK REST IN THEOPPOSITE DIRECTION, WHEREBY UPON REVERSAL OF SAID BACK-REST THEINCLINATION OF SAID SEAT IS CHANGED TO A COMFORTABLE SITTING POSITIONSLIGHTLY DOWNWARDLY INCLINED TOWARDS SAID BACK REST.